What Next for Kerkorian? Ford?

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. made a cash tender offer for up to 28 million shares of General Motors Corp. at a price of $31 per share. The news caused GM shares to jump by as high as $4.33, or 16%, to $32.10 in midday composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In recent weeks the stock has dropped to decade low levels.

The Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Tracinda said in a statement that it is "the majority owner of casino and hotel operator MGM Mirage Inc., [and it] currently owns 22 million shares of General Motors common stock, or about 3.89 percent of the outstanding shares. The shares to be purchased represent about 4.95 percent of GM's outstanding shares. Upon closing the deal, Tracinda would own about 50 million GM shares, or an 8.84 percent stake." Tracinda went on to say that the "acquisition of General Motors stock is solely for investment purposes."

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Kerkorian, an 87-year-old billionaire with an estimated net worth of $8.9 billion according to the latest Forbes list, is the sole shareholder in Tracinda, which is named for his daughters, Tracy and Linda. While best known for his Las Vegas and entertainment industry investments, Kerkorian was the largest shareholder in Chrysler before the automaker merged with DaimlerBenz in 1998. Kerkorian later sued DaimlerChrysler, as it became know, contending that the German company billed the deal as a merger of equals when it was essentially a takeover that cheated him out of billions. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. ruled against Kerkorian last month and Kerkorian has appealed the decision.

What it all means isn't clear, except that in the short term, it has stimulated GM's stock price and taken attention off the giant company's myriad of difficulties.